Method, System and Apparatus for Providing a Variable Credit Account to a Consumer

ABSTRACT

A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer ( 12 ) is provided. The method includes the steps of: offering, by a credit issuer ( 14 ), a variable credit account to a consumer ( 12 ) by telephone, electronically, mail or at an in-store location; accepting, by the consumer ( 12 ), the offer; opening, by the credit issuer, the variable credit account ( 18 ) for the consumer ( 12 ), where the account includes an open-ended loan portion ( 22 ) and a close-ended loan portion ( 20 ). The method may further include the steps of initially activating the open-ended loan portion ( 22 ) when the initial offer is made electronically, by mail or at an in-store location; and initially activating a close-ended loan portion ( 20 ) of the account when the initial offer is made at any point-of-sale. A system and apparatus for providing a variable credit account to a consumer ( 12 ) is also discussed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to the provision of credit orloans to a consumer for engaging in credit-based transactions and, inparticular, to a method, system and apparatus for providing a variablecredit account to a consumer via a variety of communication methods,such as the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-storelocation.

2. Description of Related Art

In order to enable convenient purchases of goods and services byconsumers, the financial service industry has developed many alternativepayment methods that allow a consumer to engage in a transaction andreceive goods and services on credit. For example, such alternativepayment methods may include checks, ATM or debit cards, credit cards,charge cards, etc. In addition, these credit vehicles are able to beused on many platforms and via many communication methods and processes.For example, a credit or charge card may be used over the telephone, bymail order, electronically over the Internet or at an in-store location.The benefit of existing payment methods allow a consumer to move thepoint-of-sale (POS) from an in-store location to one's home. Forexample, a consumer may place an order from a catalog over the telephoneand use a credit card or charge card to pay for the goods and/orservices. A similar process can be used for mail orders.

Virtual commerce and the growth of the Internet as a medium for commercehave placed pressure on the payment options discussed above with respectto both convenience, transaction security and the profitability by thecredit issuer. However, the consumer's convenience is paramount, and theInternet provides yet another POS, or option, to the consumer forpurchasing goods and/or services via an alternative medium.

The consumer lending industry or credit issuer presently spends largeamounts of money in hopes of successfully soliciting a consumer orcustomer to use a specific credit or loan vehicle, such as a credit cardor charge card. Further, the consumer lending industry directly mailscredit card offers to consumers at roughly fifty-cents per offer.Therefore, performing this marketing process through the mailbox can becostly. The consumer lending industry may also offer a credit card orcharge card at an in-store location as the POS. While this is anavailable format, many consumers do not wish to engage in applying for acredit card at the in-store location, instead typically choosing to takethe offer home and completing the application there. General utilitycredit cards have been offered on a limited basis at the in-storelocations. While the industry has attempted to use this vehicle, theindustry has suffered large monetary losses due to the inability to rateor index the consumer in a real-time basis. Therefore, the largequantity of offers for credit cards and similar credit accounts occursthrough the mail.

Soliciting consumers to sign up for a credit card through the mail isnot only costly, as discussed above, but the characteristics of thetarget or possible consumer is unknown ahead of time. This means thatthe vast majority of the mailed offers are never applied for or, in mostcircumstances, even read by the consumer. In part, this is due to thefact that just because one receives mail does not mean that he or she isthe primary shopper or a target consumer in any case. Therefore, theconsumer lending industry has just incurred a fifty-cent loss throughuntargeted marketing.

Credit accounts, otherwise known as loan programs, are regulatedproducts by the United States government. Specifically, the governmenthas various regulations directed to offers by credit issuers to theconsumer over the telephone, by mail, over the Internet and at anin-store location. Therefore, the variance in regulation poses aspecialized set of problems to the consumer lending industry. There arenormally two categories of loans, namely, an open-ended loan vehicle,such as a credit card, and a close-ended loan vehicle, such as a typicalnon-rechargeable loan, e.g., a car loan.

According to the regulations, an open-ended loan, such as a credit cardoffer, cannot be conducted over the telephone. This appears to be thecase since the consumer must fully understand the terms, conditions andservices offered by the credit issuer prior to engagement, which is noteasily transmittable or conductible over the telephone. Specifically,such credit card offers are typically in writing, thus allowing theconsumer to read, fully understand and agree to the terms and conditionsof the credit card or credit issuer. Therefore, the credit issuer cannotoffer a credit card to a consumer over the telephone, thus placing theconsumer lending industry back in the same position as before, whereinthe marketing exists via a writing, such as by mail, over the Internetor at an in-store location.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide amethod, system and apparatus for providing a variable credit account toa consumer that overcome the deficiencies of the prior art. It isanother object of the present invention to provide a method, system andapparatus for providing a variable credit account to a consumer that isa multi-part account. It is a further object of the present invention toprovide a method, system and apparatus for providing a variable creditaccount to a consumer that may be marketed over any and all of thetelephone, the Internet, by mail and at an in-store location. It is astill further object of the present invention to provide a method,system and apparatus for providing a variable credit account to aconsumer that allows a subsequent initiation of one or more parts of themulti-part account during subsequent transactions between the merchantand consumer.

The present invention is directed to a method for providing a variablecredit account to a consumer. This method includes the steps of: (a)offering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer byat least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at anin-store location; (b) accepting, by the consumer, the credit issueroffer; and (c) opening, by the credit issuer, the variable creditaccount for the consumer, wherein the variable credit account includesan open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion. In apreferred and non-limiting embodiment, the method further includes thesteps of: initially activating the open-ended loan portion of thevariable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer ismade at least one of electronically, by mail, and at the in-storelocation; and initially activating the close-ended loan portion of thevariable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer ismade by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at anin-store location. In addition, in a preferred and non-limitingembodiment, the method also includes the step of subsequently activatingthe non-initially-activated or unopened loan portion of the variablecredit account at a subsequent transaction between a merchant and aconsumer.

The present invention is also directed to an apparatus for providing avariable credit account to a consumer. The apparatus includes means foroffering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer byat least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at anin-store location; means for accepting, by the consumer, the creditissuer offer; and means for opening, by the credit issuer, the variablecredit account for the consumer, wherein the variable credit accountincludes an open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion. Inone embodiment, the apparatus further includes means for initiallyactivating the open-ended loan portion of the variable credit accountwhen the initial offer by the credit issuer is made at least one ofelectronically, by mail, and at the in-store location; and means forinitially activating the close-ended loan portion of the variable creditaccount when the initial offer by the credit issuer is made by at leastone of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at an in-storelocation.

The present invention, both as to its construction and its method ofoperation, together with the additional objects and advantages thereof,will best be understood from the following description of exemplaryembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a financial product or loan offeringaccording to the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the possible or target consuming publicaccording to the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of a method for providing a variable creditaccount to a consumer according to the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the method and system of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is directed to a method, system and apparatus forproviding a variable credit account to a consumer. The method of thepresent invention and a schematic view of the system implementing thismethod are illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. The present invention is alsodirected to an apparatus for providing a variable credit account to aconsumer. It is envisioned that such an apparatus implements one or moreportions of the preferred embodiments of the method and system of thepresent invention in a computer-implemented format. For example, one ormore of the steps of the method of the present invention, as discussedhereinafter, may be automatically performed by a computing device, suchas a personal computer, a networked device, a laptop, a palmtop, apersonal digital assistance and a server. Therefore, various portions ofthe presently-invented method and system may be enhanced by, augmentedby or otherwise conducted over a computer or networked system.

As seen in FIG. 1, a credit issuer may offer a financial product 200,typically referred to as a credit service or loan, to a consumer viavarious media and method of communication. Specifically, the financialproduct 200 may be offered via telephone 202, the Internet 204(electronically), by mail 206 or at an in-store location 208. While theInternet 204 has been specifically referred to above, it is envisionedthat any electronically-based offer of the financial product 200 isenvisioned as is known in the art.

Due to present regulations, an open-ended credit vehicle 210 may only beoffered over those media that allow a consumer to fully understand theterms, conditions and services offered by the credit issuer. Typically,the terms and conditions of a credit card offer are lengthy and requirethorough review prior to the consumer accepting the offer. Therefore,according to the present regulations, such an open-ended credit vehicle210 is only feasibly offerable over the Internet 204, by mail 206 or atan in-store location 208. This is typically the case, since these threemedia allow the consumer to thoroughly review, in writing, the terms andconditions of the financial product 200.

The telephone 202, while providing a convenient media for marketing,includes particular drawbacks to the consumer lending industry.According to the regulations, only a close-ended credit vehicle 212 canbe feasibly offered over the telephone 202. This occurs since it isparticularly costly in attempting to explain many pages of terms andconditions orally to a target consumer over the telephone 202. Stillfurther, and more importantly, the consumer would never sit on thetelephone 202 and listen to page after page of terms and conditionsrelating to the financial product 200. Accordingly, only close-endedcredit vehicles 212 can be offered, which entails financial products 200that are non-rechargeable. As an example, close-ended credit vehicles212 include car loans, house loans, etc.

According to FIG. 2, the possible or “target” consuming public includesthree general categories, namely, shoppers, non-shoppers and others. Theshoppers conduct credit transactions over the telephone 202, theInternet 204, the mail 206 and at in-store locations 208. Further, it isthe shoppers that the credit issuers would prefer to specificallytarget. However, as discussed in detail above, since open-ended creditvehicles 210 cannot be target marketed over the telephone, such offersare typically conducted by mail. Mail offers are expensive and, as seenin FIG. 2, also target non-shoppers, resulting in a financial loss tothe credit issuer.

Therefore, two major drawbacks are seen in the prior art. First, bymailing financial product 200 offers through the mail to anyone thatreceives mail, the credit issuer is losing considerable money byincurring costs in an attempt to convince consumers to use a specificcredit card or charge card. However, since non-shoppers are alsoreceiving these offers, the consumer lending industry financialinvestment does not have a reasonable chance of success with respect tothe non-shoppers. Another drawback is that only a close-ended creditvehicle 212 is able to be offered over the telephone 202, and thisclose-ended credit vehicle 212 cannot be subsequently recharged, whichyields a particularly non-useful account to the consumer. Consumers orshoppers would like to use a credit card over the telephone 202, as wellas the Internet 204, by mail 206 and at the in-store location 208,regardless of how the offer was made to them.

According to the present invention, a method 100 is included forproviding a variable credit account to a consumer. According to thismethod 100, and in one preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the method100 includes the steps of: offering, by a credit issuer, a variablecredit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone,electronically, by mail and at an in-store location (Step 102);accepting, by the consumer, the credit issuer offer (Step 104); andopening, by the credit issuer, a variable credit account for theconsumer, wherein the variable credit account includes an open-endedloan portion and a close-ended loan portion (Step 106). In a preferredand non-limiting embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the methodfurther includes the steps of: initially activating the open-ended loanportion of the variable credit account when the initial offer by thecredit issuer is made electronically, by mail and at the in-storelocation (Step 108); and initially activating the close-ended portion ofthe variable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issueris made by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and atthe in-store location (Step 110). In a still further preferredembodiment, the method 100 includes the step of subsequently activatingthe non-initially-activated loan portion of the variable credit accountat a subsequent transaction or communication between a merchant and theconsumer.

The present invention is also directed to a system 10 for providing avariable credit account to a consumer 12 as illustrated in FIG. 4. Acredit issuer 14 engages in an offer of credit services, including avariable credit account 18, to the consumer 12, and this offer can be atelephone offer, an Internet offer, a mail offer and/or an in-storeoffer. If the consumer 12 accepts the offer of the credit issuer 14,whether in the form of a return application or some other written orverbal action that indicates acceptance, the credit issuer 14 typicallymakes a final decision regarding the consumer 12. For example, thecredit issuer 14 may transmit certain information or data to a creditissuer central database 16, and the credit issuer central database 16 isused as a data feed into some other process that enables the creditissuer 14 to assess the consumer 12 creditworthiness, profitability,fraud-risk, other risk factors, etc.

In order to assist the credit issuer 14 in making an informed decisionregarding the consumer 12, the credit issuer central database 16 mayinclude specified data and otherwise act a data warehouse. For example,the credit issuer central database 16 (or some third-party database) mayinclude a data set having multiple fields populated with data reflectingconsumer's name, an account number, an address, a city, a state, a zipcode, a country, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a socialsecurity number, a date of birth, the merchant's name, anidentification, an order number, an authorization number, anauthorization time, an authorization amount, a ship-to address, abill-to address, a transaction amount, a consumer purchase demographic,a transaction date, a transaction type, a product identification, aservice identification, shipping costs, delivery type, customer type, acompany identity, a merchant identity, a third-party risk score, ageneral credit risk score, a credit bureau risk score, a prior approval,prior report data, previous transaction data, a geographical riskfactor, credit account data, bankcard balance data, delinquency data,credit segment data, time between transactions data, previoustransaction amount, previous transaction approval status, previoustransaction time stamp data, a response code, active trades in database,public record data, trade line data, transaction medium, credit segmentdata, consumer payment type, consumer payment method, consumer paymenthistory, consumer account history, consumer credit account balance andmerchant history. A portion or all of this data may be used in assessingthe consumer 12 with respect to initiating an offer, activating thevariable credit account 18, etc.

In one preferred and non-limiting embodiment, the credit issuer 14 willassess the consumer 12 prior to either the initial offer of the variablecredit account 18, the consumer's 12 acceptance and/or the subsequentopening or activation of the variable credit account 18 by the creditissuer 14. As discussed above, the assessment may include: (i)transmission of data to the credit issuer central database 16; (ii)transmission of data to some third-party database (such as a creditagency or the like); (iii) processing data related to the consumer 12;(iv) rating the consumer 12; and (v) verifying the authenticity of theconsumer 12. Based upon this assessment, the credit issuer 14 mayapprove the consumer 12, reject the consumer 12, decide against offeringthe variable credit account 18 to the consumer, etc.

Once the credit issuer 14 decides to engage in and initiate the contractwith the consumer 12, the credit issuer 14 creates the variable creditaccount 18 having a close-ended portion 20 and an open-ended portion 22.If the offer by the credit issuer 14 and the acceptance by the consumer12 took place over the telephone, only the close-ended portion 20 of thevariable credit account 18 may be activated for the consumer 12.However, if the initial offer and acceptance took place over theInternet, via the mail or at an in-store location, the full variablecredit account 18 may be activated, namely, both the close-ended portion20 and the open-ended portion 22 are activated, thus providing theconsumer 12 with a fully functional variable credit account 18.Alternatively, it may be preferable to activate only the open-endedportion 22 of the variable credit account 18.

If it is logistically difficult or does not make financial sense to openboth the close-ended portion 20 and the open-ended portion 22 of thevariable credit account 18 initially, the unopened portion 20, 22 of thevariable credit account 18 can be opened at a later date. As seen inFIG. 4, if the consumer 12 engages in an Internet purchase, a mailpurchase or an in-store purchase, the consumer 12 is allowed to consumegoods and/or services using the variable credit account 18 provided.Further, at this point, it may be desirable to open either the unopenedclose-ended portion 20 or the unopened open-ended portion 22 of thevariable credit account 18, thereby providing the consumer 12 with afully active variable credit account 18.

For example, if the original offer and acceptance were engaged in overthe telephone, only the close-ended portion 20 of the variable creditaccount 18 would be active when the consumer 12 subsequently engages inan Internet, mail or in-store purchase. However, since the consumer 12is now engaging in such a purchase, he or she can be provided with theappropriate terms and conditions and the open-ended portion 22 of thevariable credit account 18 can be properly activated according to theregulations. However, it is envisioned that the activation of theunopened portion 20, 22 of the variable credit account 18 may also occurduring the any subsequent communication between the credit issuer 14 andthe consumer 12.

In one preferred and non-limiting embodiment, an account statement (suchas in the form of a bill) is transmitted to the consumer 12, and thisaccount statement includes specified terms and conditions relating tothe variable credit account 18 for review by the consumer 12. At thispoint, the consumer 12 will somehow acknowledge that the specified termsand conditions are acceptable and transmit this acknowledgement to thecredit issuer 14. Once the credit issuer 14 receives thisacknowledgement, the credit issuer 14 may activate the inactivatedportion of the variable credit account 18, whether the close-endedportion 20 and/or the open-ended portion 22 of the variable creditaccount 18. The consumer 12 acknowledgement may be in written form,verbal form, application format or some other indication ofacknowledgement. For example, the consumer 12 may simply check a boxindicating that he or she has read and understood the terms andconditions and wishes to activate the open-ended portion 22 orrechargeable portion of the variable credit account 18.

If the original offer and acceptance occurred over the telephone andonly the close-ended portion 20 of the variable credit account 18 isactive, and further if the consumer 12 engages in only a telephonepurchase, this purchase of goods and/or services would be conductedusing a close-ended portion 20 of the variable credit account 18.Further, the credit issuer 14 could not activate the open-ended portion22 of the variable credit account 18 since the consumer 12 has still notread or been fully apprised of the terms and conditions of the variablecredit account 18. However, it should be noted that since theclose-ended portion 20 of the variable credit account 18 is activated asa non-rechargeable account, it is unlikely that any further purchasescould be made over the telephone on the close-ended portion 20 of thevariable credit account 18. Accordingly, such a scenario is unlikely tooccur.

The typical scenario is that the open-ended portion 22 of the variablecredit account 18 is activated when used at an appropriatepoint-of-sale, such as over the Internet, by mail or at an in-storelocation. However, as discussed above, the open-ended portion 22 may beactivated upon any acceptable and compliant indication by the consumer12 to the credit issuer 14. The present invention is also directed to anapparatus enabling the above-discussed system 10. For example, any oneor more parts or steps of the method 100 and system 10 can becomputerized and conducted in a networked or otherwise automatedenvironment. Any suitable apparatus and automated environment isenvisioned.

In this manner, the present method 100, system 10 and apparatus targetsonly the shoppers and true consumers at the point-of-sale, whether bytelephone, Internet, mail or at an in-store location. Therefore,expensive and unwieldy direct marketing by mail is not required. Thevariable credit account 18 of the present invention can be offered overthe telephone, which drastically reduces the cost of acquisition of theconsumer 12. Since the variable account 18 is a multi-part account, onlythe portion 20, 22 that may be compliantly activated at a particularpoint-of-sale is so activated. Further, the present method 100, system10 and apparatus allows for the migration or subsequent activation ofany of the unopened portions 20, 22 of the variable credit account 18during a subsequent purchase, billing or other compliant communicationwith the consumer 12.

This invention has been described with reference to the preferredembodiments. Obvious modifications and alterations will occur to othersupon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It isintended that the invention be construed as including all suchmodifications and alterations.

1. A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer,comprising the steps of: (a) offering, by a credit issuer, a variablecredit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone,electronically, by mail and at an in-store location; (b) accepting, bythe consumer, the credit issuer offer; and (c) opening, by the creditissuer, the variable credit account for the consumer, wherein thevariable credit account includes an open-ended loan portion and aclose-ended loan portion.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe step of initially activating the open-ended loan portion of thevariable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer ismade at least one of electronically, by mail and at the in-storelocation.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising the step ofsubsequently activating the close-ended loan portion of the variablecredit account at a subsequent communication between at least one of amerchant and the credit issuer and a consumer.
 4. The method of claim 2,further comprising the step of transmitting an account statement to theconsumer, the account statement including specified terms and conditionsrelating to the variable credit account for review by the consumer. 5.The method of claim 4, further comprising the steps of: acknowledging,by the consumer, that the specified terms and conditions are acceptable;receipt of the acknowledgement by the credit issuer; and activating theclose-ended loan portion of the variable credit account.
 6. The methodof claim 5, wherein the acknowledgement by the consumer is in at leastone of written form, verbal form, transmission of an application, anindication of acknowledgement and a selection indication.
 7. The methodof claim 1, further comprising the step of initially activating theclose-ended loan portion of the variable credit account when the initialoffer by the credit issuer is made by at least one of the telephone,electronically, by mail and at an in-store location.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising the step of subsequently activating theopen-ended loan portion of the variable credit account at a subsequentcommunication between at least one of a merchant and the credit issuerand a consumer.
 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step oftransmitting an account statement to the consumer, the account statementincluding specified terms and conditions relating to the variable creditaccount for review by the consumer.
 10. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising the steps of: acknowledging, by the consumer, that thespecified terms and conditions are acceptable; receipt of theacknowledgement by the credit issuer; and activating the open-ended loanportion of the variable credit account.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the acknowledgement by the consumer is in at least one ofwritten form, verbal form, transmission of an application, an indicationof acknowledgement and a selection indication.
 12. The method of claim1, wherein the consumer accepts the credit issuer offer in at least oneof written form, verbal form, transmission of an application and anindication of acceptance.
 13. The method of claim 1, further comprisingthe step of assessing, by the credit issuer, the consumer prior to atleast one of: (i) offering, by the credit issuer, the variable creditaccount to the consumer; (ii) accepting, by the consumer, the creditissuer offer; and (iii) opening, by the credit issuer, the variablecredit account for the consumer.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein theassessing step further includes at least one of: (i) transmitting datato a credit issuer central database; (ii) transmitting data to athird-party database; (iii) processing data relating to the consumer;(iv) rating the consumer; and (v) verifying the authenticity of theconsumer.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the consumer is rated forat least one of credit risk, fraud risk, profitability and risk factors.16. The method of claim 14, wherein at least one of the central creditissuer database and the third-party database includes a data setincluding at least one field populated with data reflecting a consumer'sname, an account number, an address, a city, a state, a zip code, acountry, a telephone number, an e-mail address, a social securitynumber, a date of birth, the merchant's name, an identification, anorder number, an authorization number, an authorization time, anauthorization amount, a ship-to address, a bill-to address, atransaction amount, a consumer purchase demographic, a transaction date,a transaction type, a product identification, a service identification,shipping costs, delivery type, customer type, a company identity, amerchant identity, a third-party risk score, a general credit riskscore, a credit bureau risk score, a prior approval, prior report data,previous transaction data, a geographical risk factor, credit accountdata, bankcard balance data, delinquency data, credit segment data, timebetween transactions data, previous transaction amount, previoustransaction approval status, previous transaction time stamp data, aresponse code, active trades in database, public record data, trade linedata, transaction medium, credit segment data, consumer payment type,consumer payment method, consumer payment history, consumer accounthistory, consumer credit account balance and merchant history.
 17. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising the step of approving theconsumer by the credit issuer based upon the assessment.
 18. The methodof claim 1, wherein at least one of steps (a)-(c) is automaticallyperformed by a computing device.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein thecomputing device is at least one of a personal computer, a networkeddevice, a laptop, a palmtop, a personal digital assistant and a server.20. A method of providing a variable credit account to a consumer,comprising the steps of: a) offering, by a credit issuer, a variablecredit account to a consumer by at least one of the telephone,electronically, by mail and at an in-store location; b) accepting, bythe consumer, the credit issuer offer; c) opening, by the credit issuer,the variable credit account for the consumer, wherein the variablecredit account includes an open-ended loan portion and a close-endedloan portion; d) initially activating the open-ended loan portion of thevariable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer ismade at least one of electronically, by mail and at the in-storelocation; e) initially activating the close-ended loan portion of thevariable credit account when the initial offer by the credit issuer ismade by at least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at anin-store location; and f) subsequently activating thenon-initially-activated loan portion of the variable credit account at asubsequent communication between at least one of a merchant and thecredit issuer and a consumer.
 21. An apparatus for providing a variablecredit account to a consumer, the apparatus comprising: means foroffering, by a credit issuer, a variable credit account to a consumer byat least one of the telephone, electronically, by mail and at anin-store location; means for accepting, by the consumer, the creditissuer offer; and means for opening, by the credit issuer, the variablecredit account for the consumer, wherein the variable credit accountincludes an open-ended loan portion and a close-ended loan portion.